


The Dark Hero

by Gem_Alawas



Series: Pokemon Short Fics [6]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Bad Ending, Betrayal, Gen, Post-Canon, Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:33:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25255468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gem_Alawas/pseuds/Gem_Alawas
Summary: My take on the story of Pokémon White. It always struck me as odd that Reshiram, a being of truth, didn't see right through Ghetsis and the rest of Team Plasma, and this was my response to it. A lot of thought went into word choice and stuff, so there's about a metric ton of foreshadowing.
Relationships: Pokemon White Protagonist & N
Series: Pokemon Short Fics [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1392703
Kudos: 8





	The Dark Hero

When I first set out to claim the Dark Stone, I considered it to be a wonderful thing. To wield one of the Legendary Dragons of Unova, fight evil, save the world. I thought I would be the underdog “Black Hero”, the Hero of Ideals, fighting for the hopes of Unova. I assumed that the clash that would take place would be one with a clear hero and villain, the good-but-misguided N fighting to split people and Pokémon apart for their own good, not knowing he was wrong. I would be fighting for their unity, to hold together the strong bond that was so apparent to me. Fear wasn’t needed, because I was fighting for good.

##### It seemed so black and white.

I saw it all play out in my head, like the plot of some video game. N and I battling to the last ‘mon on our teams, only for me to triumph in the end. N would realize his mistakes and recant, instead turning to help improve the understanding between people and Pokémon. I, the merciful and kind Dark Hero, would extend my hand and give him a second chance. Together, Reshiram and Zekrom at our sides, we would work to make Unova a better place for people and Pokémon, alike and in harmony. It all seemed so plain, so easy to me. He was wrong, I was right. He had to be stopped, and I had to win. Doubts weren’t part of the program.

##### The situation had more gray in it than I’d seen.

Through the journey, early and late in its progression, I was bright of heart. I pressed forward, overcoming every challenge, growing stronger by the day. I was a juggernaut, the Gym Leaders bowing to my strength. I couldn’t lose, not in a million years. I didn’t understand why the Team Plasma grunts were so motivated, nor did I care. All I saw were evil thieves that had to be stopped, and myself as the hero who vanquished them. I assumed Stockholm Syndrome was to blame when some resisted being returned to their trainers. When N told me that he was the king of Team Plasma, I decided that I would bring him down, teach him what I held in my heart. He wasn’t an enemy per se, but a misguided hero who needed help. I knew that what I was doing was right, and that was that. The murky fogs of gray had to be thrown aside.

##### I didn’t know what the Dragons really were-or what that meant.

I trained my team tirelessly, both for the league and for the final fight that I knew was coming. When I was given the Dark Stone, I promised that I would awaken Zekrom and fight for Unova. I dreamed and dreamed of the moment that would define me, not just as a person but as a Champion. As a Hero. N challenged me, told me to meet and battle him in the Pokémon League, and I accepted. When Reshiram awoke for N in Dragonspiral Tower, I knew I had to take the role of Zekrom’s hero to balance it. Zekrom did not awaken immediately like Reshiram had-and at that time I should have known something was wrong. I blamed it on the fact that I had not been prepared as N had, but I was wrong to.

##### I was blind to the truth of what my ideals really were.

When I reached the league, my blood burned with the strength of my ideals. I could not be stopped, I would stand strong against all the Champions in the world if I had to. I razed the Elite Four as easily as I had overcome every other challenge up to then. I hid my fears and buried my doubts as I always had. I was the Hero of Ideals, and my ideals had to remain strong. I thought I was ready. Yet when I burst into the Champion’s room, my words of challenge died on my lips. N was standing there, Reshiram at his back, Alder’s Volcarona unconscious before them.

##### When I saw Volcarona with an expression that constituted a smile, I should have known.

_“It’s over!”_

N's words rang out in the stillness.

_“Never again will Pokémon be made to suffer or be held captive by humans.”_

I was too stunned to truly pay attention to most of what he said, but when he spoke the sentence I dreaded so, I was snapped back to reality.

_“As a Trainer who far outmatches the Champion, I shall issue an order across Unova: Trainers, free your Pokémon!”_

I had to do something. I shouted at him, practically begged for a chance to stop this. At last, Zekrom resonated with the sheer strength of my ideals. N spoke again, his face alight with the thrill of victory-and the expectation of challenges to come.

_“…I’ve been waiting. In the future I envisioned, you obtained a Dragon Stone. And, indeed, you have. That Dark Stone…Reshiram is responding to it.”_

I reached for the Dark Stone, trying to activate it. Now or never. But then-

_“Stop. This is not a suitable battlefield for the Legendary Dragons! From the ground, rise up! The castle of Team Plasma!”_

##### I was too convinced that I had to press on.

To my horror, his words came true. From underground burst a massive castle, dwarfing and surrounding the Pokémon League. When staircases appeared to connect the two, he strode in without care. I, on the other hand, met resistance. Six of the Seven Sages and countless Team Plasma grunts stood between me and my fate. Then, lo and behold; Cheren, Bianca, and the Gym Leaders came to my rescue. I didn’t help them, instead I pressed on, running into the castle. I paid no heed to anyone, even shoving Ghetsis aside when he tried to tell me something. In my mind, I had no time to waste.

##### I should have stopped to listen, stopped to think.

At first, the Dark Stone was silent and still. N spoke, coming closer than he ever had to all-out taunting me for this. He summoned Reshiram to his side, and then gave me two options-give in or face a truly impossible fight. I steeled my resolve and prepared to face him with nothing but my team and my ideals when Zekrom responded to me at last. In a blaze of electricity, the dark-scaled Dragon of Ideals appeared, roaring a challenge to it’s pure white opposite. N faltered at the sight, and I seized upon the opportunity-I used the Master Ball on Zekrom and challenged N to a battle instead of the other way around.

##### I was too hurried, too ready to seal my fate-not knowing what that meant.

The battle that followed was, in a word, brutal. The Dragons went at it first, ripping and tearing at each other as though they had nothing to lose. I sent out my Pokémon, forcing N to do the same by their appearance. He suddenly found that the tables had turned-he was the one begging for tradition and order, a simple Single Battle. But I wasn’t having it. I had to win, at any cost, for the sake of Unova. History would forgive me for putting aside honor in such circumstances. My Pokémon tore into N’s as though they were fighting a war rather than a simple challenge of trainers, perhaps spurred on by the actions of the Dragons. Of course, I had the upper hand straight away. N was not prepared for such a fight, especially one so far removed from normal rules, and even more so against me, when I’d trained so hard for this moment.

##### The Dragons were more than I’d ever realized.

I saw N’s fear and desperation reflected in the eyes of his Pokémon save for Reshiram as they were forced to switch to defense, thrown back by the sheer power of my own team. My Pokémon pressed forward without remorse or mercy, led solely by my commands. N’s Pokémon fought together, given suggestions rather than orders, working as friends. And yet, when they struck blows against my team, they held back. Mine did not. As such his team fell rapidly, one after the other to collapse bleeding on the ground. N, near tears, returned them. At last, only Reshiram and Zekrom still fought. The battle was close, however Zekrom was slightly weaker-N had been training Reshiram for some time, while Zekrom had not battled in hundreds of years. At last, Zekrom staggered backwards and fell to the ground, unable to battle.

##### I claimed to know what I was dealing with, yet I did not even know what that meant.

Reshiram stalked forwards to finish off its defeated foe, but I returned Zekrom quickly enough that the flames bursting from Reshiram’s draconic maw simply played across the floor. I waved my Pokémon forwards once more, and they set upon the weakened Legend. Reshiram was close to defeat as it was and fell quickly to my team. I stared at N, waiting for him to speak. Do something. At last, he did speak. Softly, far slower than his usual fast-paced speech, shaking with emotion.

_"… … My friend Reshiram and I were beaten. Your ideals… Your feelings… They were stronger than my truths, it seems…”_

##### I was soon to learn of my mistakes.

N’s shoulders slumped, and yet he pointedly did not have the sudden epiphany I had expected. There was a long silence, and then Ghetsis walked in. He saw my team lounging around me, and N’s sadness, and scoffed loudly. Addressing N, he spoke.

_"After all of that, do you think you're still worthy of sharing the name Harmonia with me? You good-for-nothing boy!"_

N visibly flinched, and my eyes widened. One way or another, this was not going as I had thought. Ghetsis continued, berating N and revealing the horrible truth to his ideals. Team Plasma had been nothing but a façade. He had manipulated N and the world, so that people would release their Pokémon, leaving only Ghetsis and the people he chose to rule the world with the Dragons. I could see N’s horror, and then somehow the situation took a turn for the worse. The Dragons appeared from their ‘balls, hale and unfazed. Reshiram scowled at Ghetsis, baring sharp fangs at the lies he revealed. Zekrom, on the other hand, half-smiled and gave a noise of appreciation for the man’s devotion to his ideals.

##### That was when-at least in part-I realized.

Ghetsis laughed.

_“Zekrom sees my point! You don’t see why? I’ll tell you, ignorant child. Zekrom allies itself with those who pursue their ideals at any cost, and Reshiram does the same for those who likewise pursue truth. You think these beasts care for morality? Fool! They are like shattered glass-pieces of what once was, uncaring of who or what they hurt. They empower those they are aligned with, driving forth their devotion-and their ferocity. Reshiram and Zekrom are not the kind guardians Unova has painted them to be. They are simply truth and ideals, nothing more or less. Those concepts don’t have some innate goodness or morality-and neither do the Dragons. Team Plasma only made it by Reshiram’s scrutiny because we chose the truthful side-humans are horrible creatures, enslaving Pokémon without a whit of care! You can’t pretend to be an exception-your own Pokémon obey you because they were raised that way, not because they care about you. You know I speak the truth, I can see it in your eyes!”_

##### I looked into the eyes of my Dragon, and what looked back was indeed what Ghetsis had described. A beast without sense of morality or kindness- at least not as I knew them.

I recoiled from the Legendary, understanding. After that, everything happened very quickly. Ghetsis attacked in an attempt to silence me forever, but Zekrom made short work of his team. N left-almost fled-repenting his goals as he did. He said that now he had to find out for himself if it really was true. All of it. For the first time, he didn’t refer to Reshiram as his friend, but as his Dragon. Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad escaped arrest. Team Plasma fell apart. The League praised me, but it all felt wrong. I found myself with the title of Champion thrust upon me, a mere child. But I left the League behind to try and find the truth behind my ideals.

##### I had to see if Ghetsis was right-but in my heart, I knew the answer.

Everywhere I went, I was greeted with almost reverence by people-and hatred by Pokémon. My own team seemed cold and distant. Zekrom was still animated and loyal, but I could barely look at it after what had taken place. All through the region, I saw what N had seen. What Team Plasma had seen. What Reshiram had seen. People were harsh, cruel, and uncaring of how they treated the Pokémon they claimed to be their partners. Looking back, I saw the truth for what it was-even I, with all my grand ideals of coexistence, had not respected the wishes of the creatures I called my team. Team Plasma had been right-people and Pokémon could not exist side-by-side. I, a clueless child, had gotten in over my head and stopped what had to be done from being done.

##### There was no going back.

With the aid of Zekrom, I buried what had happened that day. The world didn’t need to know that I-the supposed hero-had failed them. Instead, I worked to improve the situation and the bond between people and Pokémon. And yet, I knew it was a lost cause. Reshiram had known so from the beginning, and I doubted that Zekrom didn’t. It had allied with me not because of my lofty goals, but because I was entirely devoted to my ideals of harmony. I didn’t doubt that had I not awakened Zekrom, Ghetsis could have done it just as easily.

##### The Dragons were ancient beings, entirely lacking any sense of right and wrong-or perhaps just having a sense different from ours to the point where it was unrecognizable.

I wasn’t the good guy in this story. I wasn’t the hero. N was-and the misguided young person trying to do the right thing the wrong way was…me. All that time, when I’d fought so hard, I was the antagonist, the unwitting evil that was all the worse because it didn’t know itself for what it was. I was the one who’d been manipulated, by all the strong trainers who told me that Pokémon and humans could coexist in happiness. They and all those who stood up to Team Plasma were not the heroes brave enough to aid-they were as lost and wrong as I was. Every Team Plasma grunt I’d defeated was another promising hero, struck down by the seemingly invincible opponent that I had become. Usually, in these kinds of stories, I would lose in the end. I would see the error of my ways and apologize, before helping the people of Unova correct their mistakes. But that didn’t happen. This was no cheerful movie with a happy ending.

##### In this story, the antagonist won. Doomed the world to suffer, as was their plan-even if they themselves didn’t know it.


End file.
